Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Folding Mount-Never-Rest!! WholeHearted Home Favorites & Linkup #3 & Lilla Rose Sale

You might think I'm crazy, and I most certainly am a bit addled to think that folding clothes is important!! 


Creating a Haven of Rest by being WholeHearted at Home on Wednesdays!!


Who wants to reach into their drawer and find a wrinkled mess?! 


Have you ever had to iron your favorite shirt before wearing it because it got all crumpled, in your drawer?? Even your children look better in clothes that look presentable and it isn't that hard to accomplish!!


When I was a newly married bride, I knew NOTHING about homemaking, so if I told you housekeeping came easy, that definitely wasn't true in my case!! I learned some valuable lessons about keeping my home from some wonderful ladies. These ladies were from large families down in the hills of West Virginia and knew what it was to keep a large household running smoothly with little effort. Who would have known that I would someday have SEVEN children?!


Today, I am going to share an easy way to fold laundry. 


When I used to work, I cared for special needs girls. We were supposed to fold each shirt or pants using a 6-inch X 1-inch long stick to measure the width of the clothes. The stick was worn smooth from constant handling over the years.


The clothes were kept in cubicle-shelves made along the wall. There was one cubicle for each girl. Shirts went in a stack on one side and pants on the other with the underwear neatly folded in the middle. It had to be absolutely neat. No excuses. We got so good at it that we could 'eye' the article of clothing and fold it to be the right size without the trusty stick.


Now why on earth would all this be important?? 


The clothes were 'ironed' by sitting on top of each other in a compressed stack. More could fit because the clothes weren't folded in half with an odd-ball shape. There were no creases or wrinkles down the middle of the shirt because of how they were folded. It was amazing!!


Here is how it is done:


First, lay the shirt flat and quickly smooth out wrinkles.



Next, fold each sleeve over.


Then fold one side of the shirt over in thirds.


Then, fold the other side over in thirds.


Take the folded shirt and fold it again, in half.


And, fold it in half again.


Then, place it on the child's pile.

Tada!!!!!!!

I never had cubicle-shelves for my children's clothes but some families with many little ones may find this a great idea depending on availability of space. I have found that the clothes go so neatly into the drawers because they can be lined up without wasting space. Why is this important??





When I had three girls in one room, and three boys in another room, and two parents and a baby in another room; saving space was VERY important!! It was a luxury for my children to have two dressers, let alone one each. That didn't happen until they got older. That is why this folding method was a life-saver for me!! 





Now, in case you think everyone's dresser drawers are immaculate...I wish!! 





That was something I had to train into my children (Hahahaha!!) but taking into consideration their differences in personality....I can only wish!!


Folding clothes beats having to find them in a pile of laundry thrown on the sofa. There was a time in our family when our sofa had four to five unfolded loads from one-end-to-another!!



This sofa is where we folded our laundry when we had Nine-at-Home. There would be two rows of piles on the 'heavy' days lining the sofa with clothes that had towered on Mount-Never-Rest just hours before!!

Making YOUR home a Haven of Rest is making a dent in Mount-Never-Rest!!
It is much easier to keep up with laundry now. There were times when life was so hectic that even my drawers were a mess. Take heart dear young mothers as these are only ideas to encourage you.


I love Flylady, but I don't know where she gets 'a load a day keeps chaos away' do you?! When my children were little, I would have said, 'Four loads a day keep chaos away!!' 


How do you fold, or have your families' clothes folded?? How many loads do you fold a day??

And NOW it's time for . . . 
WholeHearted Home Wednesday's Favorites!!

I want to introduce you to a relatively new blogger-on-the-block!! Sharon's Patch blessed me so much this past week with her inspiring story about apples complete with a scrumptious recipe for Apple Cake!





I would have stopped and made it right away, but it was too late!!


Sharon is from New Zealand and blogs about gardening when it isn't summer down her way. She often blogs about growing the unusual and always includes a recipe to keep it interesting. She loves the whimsical and includes something that catches her eye. 


Sharon's artwork caught my eye!!


Be an encouragement to Sharon and stop over at her blog and leave a comment. Remember when you were first starting to blog and follow her as an even greater encouragement!! 


And now, for today's Linkup Party
WholeHearted Home Wednesdays!!!

Thank you to all who linked up with WholeHearted-Home-Wednesdays last week!!!! I was soo blessed reading all the posts that each of you ladies left.

Share your post with others out in our bloggie-niche on:
Mothering
Marriage
Homemaking
Homeschooling
From Your Kitchen
Organizing your Home
Gardening
Mom's Sharing Jesus
and any way you have
WholeHeartedly served Christ in your Home
  1. Post as many posts as you'd like
  2. Keep each post honoring to God
  3. I'd love you to link back to Haven of Rest but it is not required
  4. You may use a 'word' link or my button along the side for Haven of Rest
  5. Happy posting!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart as each of your posts are always such an encouragement to me and others.

Grab My Button!!


Ladies...See what is for sale at Lilla Rose!!

"Lilla Rose logo is property of Lilla Rose, Inc, and is used under license"  


In Christ Alone,
~Judith~s


20 comments:

  1. I was looking for your link up button but didn't see it. Thank you for letting me link up here. I enjoyed your post on laundry considering that is my most hated of all household chores. I really like your button on the side that says, "I blog to hide from the laundry!" Too funny!

    Lindsey @ Road to 31
    www.roadto31.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone told me my button didn't link up so I took it down. It is on my 'to do' list :-) hopefully today!!

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    2. Lyndsey, P.S. I just LOVE your blog and look forward to visiting again!!

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  2. I thought I was the only one that folded shirts this away lol

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    Replies
    1. LOL...I thought I was the only one too!! Like most things in life and marriage, I always thought I was 'the only one' but come to find out that there are lots of ladies out there making the same mistakes, having the same things happen to them, and loving to do the same things!! :-)

      Nice to *see* you Renee :-)

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  3. I usually good about folding the clothes, it's getting them out of the laundry basket that's a challenge! So much so that we have a laundry basket system. If the baskets are horizontal to the closet they are clean, perpendicular they are dirty. Thanks for linking this up, so I could find more good link ups.

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  4. What a neat new trick I've learned today! Thanks! :)

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  5. Hi, Judith.

    Linking up today!

    I have been reading for a short while and always want to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. But I never do because there is always so much I want to say after reading a post and I never have enough time.

    For instance... I love folding laundry, too. And I think it is very important. For one thing it is our job to keep our house neat and orderly and digging though a pile of unfolded laundry at 6 am for a pair of underwear in no way resembles neat and orderly. For another we need to present ourselves neat and orderly and a wrinkled shirt in Worship on Sunday morning because it sat in a laundry basket heap since Monday mornings does not give a good impression of who a Christian should be. Furthermore, in the end, folding your clothes saves time because you don't have to iron as much or hunt as much. I love to pray for my family members as I fold their items. We use a fold similar to yours that is the standard military fold. It is great for space challenged families like ours and keeps things from wrinkling.

    My daughter likes those clips you show from Lilla Rose. I think she got hers from another etsy store, though.

    I so love the apples... I can't draw even a stick figure so I am always am amazed at how someone can create something so amazing with just some paint or a pencil or chalk or whatever.

    OK... need to seriously go now... kids lined up waiting for help in the garden.

    Hugs,

    Kat

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh and for the record... it takes at least four loads a day in our super capacity he washer and dryer to keep the chaos away around here. ☺

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    2. Yes, it always was four loads for me until just over a year ago.

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  6. Judith friend...Laundry is not my favorite chore around the house but I know it has to get done. Thankfully, my Love and children don't mind it as much as I do and usually work together get it folded and put away. I start it, they finish it. :o) It works for us. Thank you for the link up, too.

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    Replies
    1. For years I did just that and folded here and there as needed. My wonderful children helped or I would never have been able to keep up with homeschooling them. They are such a blessing. Sounds like your children are a blessing also.

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  7. Ah, the chore I avoid the least...I love hanging the clothes out to dry, but putting away..ahh...thanks for the gentle push I need today!
    Also inviting you to link up if you write stories/tips for my Faithfully Parenting Fridays linky party!
    Michy
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, but take heart as it isn't all that bad!! Children can help too.

      Thanks for stopping by Michy and giving the invite for your linky party on Friday.

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  8. Judith what a surprise when I came here to put my link on for this week. I am honoured you featured me and such kind words too. It is preserves this week, my goal with my gardening blog is to be a good proverbs 31 wife! So your advice on folding clothes hits the spot. If I don't do it straight away, it gets crumpled and is harder to iron.

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  9. So yeah, I've got a pile of laundry on the couch right now. I'm going to have to try this method with our t-shirts. I hate folding shirts. And my hubby always makes a mess of them trying to find the one he wants. Maybe this will work!

    Thanks for linking up!

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    Replies
    1. You see the picture of my couch?? It is empty these days but it used to be a laundry-holder ;-) Take heart. Shirts really aren't so bad...it is the socks. I used to have to try to buy different colored socks to keep track of whose were whose, lol. My husband will dig looking for a certain shirt too :-) so that is why I keep his drawer so he can see his shirts. This past week he kept wearing the same shirt, so I put it at the back...and he found it!! They are just really steady men and it even shows in the shirts they prefer :-) My husband has colored undershirts as well as white which can be confused with T-shirts that have pictures on the front. I fold those with the picture backwards on the outside so he can tell the difference.

      My husband wears uniforms to work and I fold a pair of uniform pants, his uniform shirt, an undershirt, and underpants together on a stack. Then I put them on a stack in his closet so he isn't having to go here and there for each item. He gets up at 3am!!!

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  10. Didn't know you had a link-up, Judith. Just put your button on my posts and joined it. Thanks, Gail

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    1. Thank you Gail!!! I have missed your linkup :-) during the past couple weeks.

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  11. Whoops... you've got me! (there's a basket of laundry on couch waiting to be folded!) ;-)

    Thank you for sharing your tips and the photos. I'm married (mumble28mumble)years and I'm thrilled to learn something new.

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